ERC grantees at Science is Wonderful! - 2026 edition

`Science is Wonderful!` is an annual science fair organized by the European Commission that brings the world of cutting-edge research to pupils and students from primary and secondary schools. Every year, this three-day event, free and open to all, attracts over 4000 participants from across Belgium.

This year more than 150 scientists from around the world, including ERC grantees, will engage participants through interactive experiments and hands-on activities, captivating science shows, and fun-filled games and quizzes!

If you are coming as an individual, with a small group of friends or with your family, there is no need to register - just show up and get your science on! Registrations for school classes or groups of 10 or more are compulsory.

Meet the ERC grantees and their teams participating with a booth or science show!

Booths

Forests are a treasure trove of delicious snacks

Booth 22

• Laura Vang Rasmussen, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Did you know that forests are a treasure trove of delicious food? Across the world, forests provide yummy fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. These wild foods are not only tasty, they’re also highly nutritious. In fact, research from multiple African countries shows that wild fruit and vegetables from forests can make important contributions to people’s diets. This means that by protecting forests, we also protect these delicious tree-based foods - benefiting people as well as nature! At our booth, you will discover a range of wild food from the forests of Africa. You can smell and touch exotic fruit and vegetables, such as the fruit from the mighty baobab (also known as “the tree of life”). We will show you how important these foods can be for people’s diets, and challenge you to guess the nutrient content of wild food compared to more familiar food, such as oranges. We will also introduce you to wild food you can find here at home in Belgium! We will learn how to identify these foods through drawing “nutritious landscape” murals - you can even make your own seasonal calendar of local wild food to take home and share.

How can we turn waste into a building material?

Booth 13

• Erik Schlangen, Professor of Experimental Micromechanics, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

At this booth, you will discover how we are reinventing concrete - not just as a building material, but as a green solution. By turning waste into useful ingredients, we are creating concrete that is kinder to the environment. Peer through a microscope to explore the tiny ingredients, mix your own concrete blend, and put your instincts to the test: guess how strong your green concrete cube is, then crush it to find out! Are you ready to build a greener future?

Heart to heart: how good is AI?

Booth 17

• Aurelien Bustin, Assistant Professor, Bordeaux University, France

How do doctors see inside the human heart? At our booth, you will discover how cardiac radiologists use new technology to explore this amazing organ. Try your hand at being a radiologist in our BEAT-AI game: can you beat our artificial intelligence at spotting the heart's chambers? Then dive right inside a beating heart with our virtual reality experience! Along the way, you will learn how AI is helping doctors work faster and better, and take home our comic book "Once Upon a Time in an MRI Machine" to keep the story going. Come and step into the Heart of Science

Save the salamanders!

Booth 23

• An Martel, Professor, Ghent University, Belgium

Salamanders can regrow legs. Amazing, right? But a tiny fungus is threatening them across Europe. At our booth you will discover how this “salamander-eating” fungus attacks: see spores move under a microscope and become a junior disease detective as you test which salamander is sick. By playing the Fantastic Salamanders game, you will watch them grow from egg to adult, and create your own colourful salamander to take home. Learn simple ways to help keep salamanders safe, and step into the world of salamander rescue!

Threads of DNA: untangling hidden stories

Booth 33

• Cristina Valdiosera, Researcher, University of Burgos, Spain

Step into the world of archaeology and ancient DNA and help us reveal stories from colonial Mexico. Extract hidden clues inside ancient teeth, follow the colourful path of DNA threads, and piece together the story of a person who lived centuries ago. Observe, touch, and handle the evidence as you learn how scientists use ancient DNA to explore encounters between different people. Discover secrets buried long, long time ago!

Science show

Friday, 20 March, 9.30 -10.00 (CET)

Forests: the supermarket of the wild 

• Laura Vang Rasmussen, Emilie Vansant, Charlotte Hall, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Age group: 7 to 10

Language: English

Did you know that foods can have superpowers? And that many of these superfoods grow wild in our forests?

At our show, you will learn about wild forest foods and their special superpowers. We will then go on a journey together with our forest explorer. In the forest, our explorer will face different challenges – and they’ll need your help finding the right superfood to succeed.

Come along to see how wild superfoods can save the day!